The new year began with a bang in the Bay State as pending sales for single-family homes and condominiums increased for the 21st straight month in January, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

“The spring home buying season came early for many buyers in January as the numbers showed they made offers and took advantage of market conditions instead of waiting,” Kimberly Allard-Moccia, MAR’s president, said in a statement.

“Late 2012 pending sales reports indicated that the closings for the first months of 2013 would most likely be up, but today’s report gives us reason to believe the same will be true
about the early spring.”

Single-family homes put under agreement in January reached 3,076, up from 2,599 homes in 2012, an 18.4 percent hike. Condos put under agreement last month increased 22.3 percent to 1,216 units, up from 994 dwellings in 2012.

MAR said tracking of signed purchase and sales agreements, also called “pending sales,” give a hint about where the real estate market is headed. A pending sale or a sale “under agreement” is when the buyer and seller agree on the terms of the sale and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close at the Registry of Deeds.

Linda Markham

Cape Air taps Linda Markham as president

Cape Air will promote from within for its new president. Linda Markham, formerly executive vice president and chief administrative officer, takes over the job from Dave Bushy, who is retiring, the Hyannis-based air carrier announced in a news release Thursday.

The appointment makes Markham the only woman president of a U.S. air carrier, according to Cape Air.

Dan Wolf, founder and CEO of Cape Air, cited Markham’s work improving customer and employee experience. “Linda has provided remarkable leadership to not only the operational and financial divisions of Cape Air, but more importantly, she has been able to develop and grow employee and customer experiences to a level that has made Cape Air a model in the airline industry,” he said in a statement. “I greatly look forward to continuing our work together as we explore opportunities for the organization, our associates and passengers.”

Cape Air serves 36 stations in the U.S., Caribbean and Micronesia.

Weston developer pleads case for 260 rental units

Roy MacDowell II’s Baystone Development took over the Danforth Green project in Framingham last year. They’ve scaled back their plans for a large residential development along the Sudbury River on the Wayland town line, but still reportedly face opposition from residents.

MacDowell made his pitch, Thursday, before the Framingham Planning Board and a crowd of residents from Saxonville, a village of Massachusetts’ largest town, the MetroWest Daily News reports.

The sticking point, according to the report, is a zoning variance Weston-based Baystone seeks that would allow the developer to market 240 of the Danforth units – 66 percent – as rentals. Town bylaws would allow only 20 percent of the Danforth units to be rentals.

“We want you to know that what we’re doing is going to be good for the neighborhood, good for the community,” MacDowell reportedly said. He noted the developers are planning to donate 80 acres on the site for public use.

Planning Board director Jay Grande reportedly said Danforth Green as proposed would help meet the current “tremendous demand” from people who want to rent, not buy.

American Airlines - how big will it be?

Airlines are traditionally measured in revenue miles – the revenue multiplied by the number of miles flown. If approved by regulators, the merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways would create an entity with 9.8 billion revenue miles. The next largest would be Delta, at 6.6 billion revenue miles.

Bloomberg’s Adam Johnson reports on the size and scope of the new American Airlines, created by the pending $11 billion merger of American and U.S. Air, which was approved by shareholders Thursday.

The combined American Airlines would have 1,500 planes, 100,000 employees, six hubs and $39 billion in revenue. “No matter how you measure it this is the largest airline in the world,” Johnson said.

Weston property a steal at $14.5 million

After more than three years on the market, the sellers of a 20-room California Lodge in Weston have dropped the price to $14.5 million – $10 million off the original list.

“The original pricing overshot the market,” said Terrance Maitland, the new listing broker from Landvest. “We think the new price is in a much more realistic range.”

Five Willow Road, the former estate owned by Thomas and Virginia Cabot from the late 1920s until the 1990s, was purchased in 1998 for $4.4 million. The new owners constructed a 17,446-square-foot residence on the 13-acre property, completing it in 2004.

Designed by Boston architect Jeremiah Eck, the seven-bedroom home with seven full baths features a theater, gym, wine room, pool and pool house. Eck retained the front facade of the original home, but demolished the rest, including the original foundation.